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Deva
The Deva is a conglomerate of several alien species, originating from the Triangulum Galaxy (also known as Messier 33 or NGC 598). The Deva controlled a major part of their galaxy, but eventually they encountered the extragalactic Flood. After a long war, the Deva races escaped their own galaxy through The Conduit, a Precursor portal, leaving a select few behind to destroy it to ensure the flood didn't spread to the Milky Way. As a result, they appeared in the Milky Way. Background The Deva's first historical records date back to 40,000 B.C, with the head race, the Parceloi, defeating their rivals, the Limenka, in the war over control of their homeworld, Parlim. In the aftermath, the Limenka became subordinates to the Parceloi, and together, after roughly 3,000 years, achieved space flight. As they continued to advance and colonize new parts of the galaxy, they encountered the short nitrogen-ammonia-breathing Hithil and the demonic-looking Avar. Unable to put up much of a fight, the two races were absorbed into the Deva. The Deva's empire continued to spread and prosper, seemingly without hindrance. Over time, they discovered ruins and artifacts of the Precursors, a Tier 0 Transsentient race that had controlled the Triangulum Galaxy long before the Deva species had even developed. Desperate to find more of the advanced race's artifacts, the Deva eagerly pushed further into their galaxy, as a side effect reaching Tier 1 on the Forerunner technological achievement scale. By the year 200 AD (human calendar), the Deva controlled more than half of their galaxy and had found dozens of important Precursor artifacts, including The Conduit, a Precursor two-way slipspace portal, used to connect the Triangulum and Milky Way galaxies. However, that year, they also stumbled across the Flood organism, which quickly spread and took over the Deva outer colonies. The Deva Navy struck back ferociously, but was unable to halt the parasites' advance. After a hundred years of war, the majority of the Deva's defenses had fallen, and a mass evacuation to The Conduit began, their last hope to save their races. While the massive fleet carrying the civilians along with their few military escorts fled through the portal to the Milky Way galaxy, what remained of the Deva Navy led diversionary attacks on the Flood territories in a suicide attempt to buy time. Luckily, it bought enough time for the evacuation fleet to go through the Conduit portal. To stop the flood from following, the Conduit's defense fleet destroyed the structure, effectively shutting down the portal, while also dooming the crews of the defense fleet. In the Milky Way, the Deva fleet began looking for suitable colonies, hoping to restore their once great empire to its former glory. After founding a new homeworld, Palihiva, in the far Outer Arm, the Deva attempted to spread and found new colonies, although at a slow and patient rate, in order to avoid something like the Flood threatening them again. By the 26th century, the Deva had once again built up an empire, albeit much smaller than their original one, due to their slow pace of expansion. Society Government The Deva government was initially a hierarchical republic, where the votes of the higher caste carried greater weight than those of the lesser caste. Although the lesser caste was allowed to vote, only members of the higher caste could be voted forth, and the votes of lesser caste members was only valued half as much as a vote from the higher caste. However, after their century-long war with the Flood, the government was changed into a militarized oligarchy, where the highest ranked military officers rule. After escaping to the Milky Way, the government remained a military oligarchy, however the military was forced to accept a civilian council, The Assembly, to help them rule. Species Parceloi The Parceloi is the highest caste member of the Deva, along with being its founder. The Parceloi place great value on their offspring, and male children are trained in the arts of combat, strategy and discipline ever since they learn to walk and speak, while the female children goes through similarly harsh training, though in the arts of diplomacy, politics and leadership. The Parceloi were a matriarchic society before they defeated and absorbed the Limenka, with Matriarchs controlling the various Parceloi War Bands (roughly equivalent to a tribe or clan). After founding the Deva, the Parceloi Matriarchs became the main authority for all the client races. During the war with the flood, the Matriarchic society was temporarily abolished to make room for a government headed by the military, consisting of the Parceloi males. After escaping the flood, the Matriarchs along with the lower caste representatives formed The Assembly, ruling together with the Parceloi military, technically creating an “equal” balance between male and female. The Parceloi have a religion based on that all individuals share one “spirit”, that infuses them with power and guides them. Limenka The Limenka was the Parceloi’s century-long rival over control of their shared homeworld, Parlim, until they were defeated and absorbed into Parceloi society as subordinate soldiers. They form up the medium caste together with the Hithil, below the Parceloi but above the Avar. They also make up the Deva’s basic infantry, commanding the Avar, whom are used as cannon fodder, while being commanded by Parceloi officers. Currently, they are rivals with the Hithil over who should have the most influence. This rivalry is considered an ignorable problem on the part of The Assembly, as there have been little open hostilities between the two races. There are also tensions between the Limenka and the Parceloi, as the Limenka remembers their "embarrassing" defeat to the Parceloi centuries ago. However, most Limenka remain in line, partly due to the low amount that remembers what happened in the ancient past, and partly because of the flood war, which caused most of the races to get along better, believing their survival depends on it. The Limenka have a religion that stretches back to far before their war with the Parceloi, based on various gods. Hithil The Hithil is a short race breathing a mix of nitrogen and ammonia. Because of this, they are forced to wear suits with nitrogen-ammonia breathers to survive on other planets and on starships. Because of being physically unsuitable for warfare but excellent mechanics and pilots, they serve primarily as pilots, gunners, engineers or civilian posts, such as merchants. Because of the services they provide, the Parceloi granted them a place in the medium caste, together with the Limenka. Ever since, the Hithil and the Limenka have been rivals over who should have the most influence in Deva society. The Hithil religion is a combination of astronomy and prophecies, in which the fate of an individual is decided by the position of the stars upon birth. Avar The Avar makes up the lowest caste of Deva society, in reality not a sentient race at all, but rather fierce and blood-thirsty animals tamed by the other races of the Deva. Though being pets to some, they are mostly tamed as cannon fodder in the Deva military, mostly by Limenka soldiers. Though not capable of wielding weapons, their speed, ferociousness and sharp teeth and claws counters this. They breed at an incredibly high rate, due to originating from a very harsh planet with a lack of resources, forcing only the strong to survive. However, away from their homeworld, unless tamed and put into the military, commonly become pests that mess up the local ecology. Technology The Deva's technology has been measured as Tier 1 in the Forerunners' Achievement scale. They have proven capable of manipulating gravitational forces, create fully sentient AIs, master slipspace navigation and build superstructures, although they have rarely used the latter, except for constructing deep-space military facilities hidden from the rest of society, for example The Core. Their weaponry is gravity-based, rather than energy-based like the Forerunners or the Covenant. AIs play a large role as military advisors and for civilian purposes, such as directing traffic, pilot basic merchant vessels etcetera. Military The Deva maintains a permanent armed forces branch, led by the Parceloi Officers and their personal War Bands. It is divided into three main sections: Navy, Army and Special Warfare. The Navy consists mainly of Parceloi vessels with Parceloi officers commanding them. The crews of the ships are usually made up of Hithil or Limenka. The Army consists primarily of Limenka and Avar, though dropships and fighters piloted by Hithil and War Bands led by Parceloi are also included. The Special Warfare division consists solely of specially trained Parceloi War Bands supported by a select few Limenka or Hithil. Homeworld/Colonies Primra Avdacada System *Palihiva (new homeworld after Flood War) Secunga Avdacada System *Secusa II *Levtoran Primra Terga Avdacada System *Espraca *Acara Deva Starships Fleets *Main Assault Fleet *Rapid Reaction Fleet *Multi-Purpose Fleet *Primary Defense Fleet *Terga Avdacada Assault Fleet *Secunga Avdacada Defense Fleet *Primra Avdacada Multi-Purpose Fleet *Core Rapid Reaction Fleet Space Stations/Deep Space Facilities/Superstructures *The Core (Deva Military Headquarters, located inside a Micro Dyson Sphere, only accessible through a select few portals scattered throughout the Deva Empire) *The Construct (A deep-space military shipyard) Trivia *"Parceloi" comes from the word "parcela", meaning "Vanguard" in Brazilian Portuguese. *"Limenka" is the Croatian word for "tin". *The Deva were originally planned to have been a small alliance of races native to the Milky Way. This was changed to make way for the new concept.